


Her Light Illuminating Your Life

by coolbreezemage



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Awkward Crush, F/M, Fluff, Gift Giving, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27138838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coolbreezemage/pseuds/coolbreezemage
Summary: Felix was pretty sure Annette couldn't stand him. Why, then, did she insist on rushing to his side and dragging him along on her misadventures?
Relationships: Annette Fantine Dominic/Felix Hugo Fraldarius
Comments: 5
Kudos: 45





	Her Light Illuminating Your Life

“Felix!” Annette’s voice rang out across the training hall, jarring Felix from his drills. He grumbled, lowered his sword, and waited for the redheaded whirlwind to settle down and get to the point. 

She held out a wrapped box. It was a miracle she hadn’t dropped it yet, he thought, and then he noticed the scuff on the edge on the paper. So she had. 

“I made this for you! Mercedes helped.” 

Felix eyed the box doubtfully. “Is it another cake?”

Across the hall, Lysithea glanced up like a cat who’d heard the footsteps of a mouse skittering across the floor. “Cake?” she asked. “I mean, I’m actually far too busy to be interested in silly things like that…”

Annette lit up even more. “Lysithea! Ooh, are you working on Abraxis? That one’s tricky. I can show you my notes from the School of Sorcery if you want!”

Lysithea glared. “I don’t need any help, I can do it myself.” She deliberately stomped several steps away and went back to her magic. 

Felix motioned to the box with the hilt of his training blade. “What is it?”

“It’s a present! You’re supposed to open it. You know that, right?” A gift? After she'd yelled at him and claimed to hate him?

“Of course I know that.” He set down the blade and took the box from her hands. Unwrapping it took only a few moments. He crumpled up the paper and shoved it into a pocket to throw out or reuse later. 

She continued to beam at him as he lifted the lid. It was horribly distracting. Somehow he couldn’t keep his attention off of her. Inside the box he found a shapeless pile of fabric and leather.

“What is-“ he started, but it became clear as soon as he picked it up. “Gloves,” he said, flipping one over to examine it. “You made these?”

“Me and Mercie, yeah! My sewing isn’t good enough for the little detailed bits, but I did the rest! Do you like them? They’re for fighting, they’re supposed to stop your hands from getting blisters.”

“I know what gloves are for,” he grumbled automatically. “Here, hold this.” He pushed the box back into her arms so he could slide the gloves onto his hands. 

They fit perfectly. He stretched his fingers. The seams were flawless. He hadn’t expected that. Most of the things Annette made turned out haphazard if they succeed at all. But these… he could see himself getting some use out of these. 

“Do you like them?” Annette asked again. She looked so worried now. Felix sighed. Why did she get so worked up over things like this?

“Yeah, they’re fine,” he said. 

A smile broke out across Annette’s face and she made an adorable little cheer. “I’m so happy! Do you want to try them out? I can grab an axe or a sword…” She glanced around as if looking for a spare weapon. 

Lysithea snorted. So she was still watching them, despite her attempts to look otherwise. “The storeroom is over there, you know,” she said, pointing.

“I knew that!”

Annette turned. Felix reached out and grabbed her hand before she could dash off to the storehouse. Her hands were so small...

“No, I’m fine,” he said. “I can try it myself.” He looked her over, relieved that she was finally standing still for more than a second at a time. “You’re too… jumpy. If you get a blade in your hands in that mood, you’ll break something.”

He adjusted the gloves again and lifted his sword. It was only a wooden practice blade, but it was weighted to feel somewhat like a real one and would be a good enough test of how the gloves would serve on the battlefield. 

“Step back,” he ordered. Annette skipped back a few steps, barely avoiding tripping over herself in the process. Felix huffed. If only she’d focus more in training, he might be able to trust her to keep herself safe. 

He went through a short warm-up drill, blade and body sliding through the long-trained motions one into the next.  The gloves moved with him, padded his hands in all the right places while leaving him more than enough sensation to feel his strikes. He sliced through the air one last time and set down the blade.

“Huh, these are actually pretty good.”

Annette beamed. “I knew you’d like them! I’ll have to tell Mercie.”

This generous Annette was strange. But at least it was better than her accusing him of sabotaging her. All because he was somehow cursed to be unable to turn away from her goofy, brilliant songs. 

And she was still standing there.

“Are you going to practice?” he asked, in lieu of anything else useful to say.

“Oh! Not now. I’m about to get dinner. I heard they have sweet buns today!”

“That’s not a dinner,” Felix said automatically.

“I know that, I’ll eat dinner too!” She crossed her arms. “Ugh, you’re so mean. I know how to take care of myself.”

This was going to turn into a mess. Again. “Look, I’m not criticizing you. I’m just saying that I don’t have time to chat right now.” Felix picked a different blade from the rack. “Because I’m busy with training.”

“I have training too, you know!” Annette protested. 

“I know. You’re good at it too, at least when you pay attention.” 

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Felix sighed. She wasn’t going to leave him alone anytime soon. 

“Fine, fine, I’ll come with you.” He groaned and set the sword back down. He was getting hungry anyway, dinner was probably a good idea.

Annette absolutely lit up at that, face glowing. “Come on, let’s go! Ashe is cooking tonight so it’s going to be something good!” She was right about that. Ashe’s creations were always good, even if he was cooking something Felix wasn’t fond of. 

He was still wearing the gloves. Damn, why was he like this around Annette? It was like her carelessness was infectious. “They’re good,” he muttered, blushing angrily and scrambling to pull them off and shove them into his pocket. “What are they serving today?”

That question was answered a moment later when Dedue placed two dishes in front of him and Annette. Felix scowled. He didn’t like having people serve him when he could do it himself. 

“Thanks, Dedue!” Annette said. “That looks really good!”

Felix eyed the dish. It was a thick vegetable stew topped with a scattering of green herbs, bits of chewy jerky and a generous amount of cheese already dripping down the sides of the bowl in sticky rivulets. He dug in a spoon. It was tolerable, maybe even good, but that was as much as he would admit. 

Besides, the food wasn’t his chief focus right now. That was, inevitably, helplessly, Annette. Watching her smile and her eyes and listening to her voice as she talked to the others, always cheerful and determined and that odd level of intense he supposed had carried her through the School of Sorcery into the Officers’ Academy. 

Someday he’d figure out why he couldn’t look away, but for now, it remained a mystery. 


End file.
